How to compile for Windows on Linux with gcc/g++?

Question

I have written some effects in C++ (g++) using freeglut on Linux, and I compile them with

g++ -Wall -lglut part8.cpp -o part8

So I was wondering if it is possible to have g++ make static compiled Windows executables that contains everything needed?

I don't have Windows, so it would be really cool, if I could do that on Linux :)

Answer 1

mingw32 exists as a package for Linux. You can cross-compile and -link Windows applications with it. There's a tutorial here at the Code::Blocks forum. Mind that the command changes to x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc-win32, for example.

Ubuntu, for example, has MinGW in its repositories:

$ apt-cache search mingw
[...]
g++-mingw-w64 - GNU C++ compiler for MinGW-w64
gcc-mingw-w64 - GNU C compiler for MinGW-w64
mingw-w64 - Development environment targeting 32- and 64-bit Windows
[...]

Answer 2

One option of compiling for Windows in Linux is via mingw. I found a very helpful tutorial here.

To install mingw32 on Debian based systems, run the following command:
sudo apt-get install mingw32 mingw32-binutils mingw32-runtime

To compile your code, you can use something like:
i586-mingw32msvc-g++ -o myApp.exe myApp.cpp

You'll sometimes want to test the new Windows application directly in Linux. You can use wine for that, although you should always keep in mind that wine could have bugs. This means that you might not be sure that a bug is in wine, your program, or both, so only use wine for general testing.

To install wine, run:
sudo apt-get install wine

Answer 3

Suggested method gave me error on Ubuntu 16.04: E: Unable to locate package mingw32

===========================================================================

To install this package on Ubuntu please use following:

sudo apt-get install mingw-w64

After install you can use it:

x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++

Please note!

For 64-bit use: x86_64-w64-mingw32-gc++

For 32-bit use: i686-w64-mingw32-g++

Answer 4

Install a cross compiler, like mingw64 from your package manager. Then compile in the following way: instead of simply calling gcc call i686-w64-mingw32-gcc for 32-bit Windows or x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc" for 64-bit Windows. I would also use the --static option, as the target system may not have all the libraries.

If you want to compile other language, like Fortran, replace -gcc with -gfortran in the previous commands.

Answer 5

I've used mingw on Linux to make Windows executables in C, I suspect C++ would work as well.

I have a project, ELLCC, that packages clang and other things as a cross compiler tool chain. I use it to compile clang (C++), binutils, and GDB for Windows. Follow the download link at ellcc.org for pre-compiled binaries for several Linux hosts.

Answer 6

From: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/MinGW/Tutorial

As of Fedora 17 it is possible to easily build (cross-compile) binaries for the win32 and win64 targets. This is realized using the mingw-w64 toolchain: http://mingw-w64.sf.net/. Using this toolchain allows you to build binaries for the following programming languages: C, C++, Objective-C, Objective-C++ and Fortran.

"Tips and tricks for using the Windows cross-compiler": https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/MinGW/Tips

Answer 7

for Fedora it's

sudo yum groupinstall -y "MinGW cross-compiler"